Siderastrea radians
Siderastreais a common boulder type Caribbean coral, but to spot the lesser-known species,Siderastrea radiansrequires a shallow dive and a keen eye.
Siderastrea radiansgrows into small roundboulders or domes, compared to its massive relative, theSiderastrea siderea.The simple way of differentiating these two species is just by looking at the size of the colony.
The surface of this coral covered in deeply pitted corallites which are somewhat symmetrical. It almost looks like you took the tip of a pencil and poked holes in the surface of a putty ball.
Lesser Starlet Coral
The common name for this coral is the Lesser Starlet Coral because of the star shape inside the corallite, and it’s diminutive size compared to themassive starlet coral.It is rare to find colonies ofSiderastrea radiansmore than 30cm (12 inches) wide, while the massive starless coral can be several meters across.
It can be difficult to tell juvenile colonies apart, but once the colony is over 30cm you can be sure it is the massive starlet coral. Another way to tell these two corals apart is color.
Siderastrea radiansis found almost exclusively in sandy tan, brown, yellow shades. The larger massive starlet coral can be blue, yellow, and green, with pink color being most common.
If you are looking forSiderastrea radianswe suggest looking in the shallowest parts of the reef. Every time I’ve come across this coral it’s been fairly close to shore in 2-5 meters or (6-15feet) of water.
更多地了解加勒比海珊瑚礁识别make sure to check out our free onlineguide to Caribbean Corals.